Scott H. Biram is the “Dirty Ol’ One Man Band” of blues punk who has been releasing albums since 2000. In the past years he’s been rampaging around like he’s being possessed by an (un)holy spirit and has no intentions of quitting. On The Bad Testament the Texan folk troubadour continuous to examine his own tortured soul. Continue reading →

Kyle Field, frontman of Little Wings, is what you might call a postmodern balladeer of rural and urban landscapes. California’s wonderful natural surroundings, youth culture and the big city congestions issues were a source of inspiration for his hymns. Only somewhere during the course of time he expanded his horizon and started residing in landscapes of half truths. Luckily this was just the right place to bring together his fragile poetry and wobbly folk pop. Continue reading →

Maybe it would be best to call it quits. However, why should we? Especially after being together for such a long time. Indie rock band The Walkmen experienced a conflict like this first hand a year ago and decided a split would cause a lot of unnecessary hubbub, so an ‘extreme hiatus’ seemed a better plan. A creative gap seemed unavoidable, leaving fans empty handed. Continue reading →

I don’t know if you noticed, but I briefly mentioned the name of Chad VanGaalen during my last review of Timber Timbre’s Hot Dreams. But ok, I have to accept that my footnote was easy to be missed and, of course, doesn’t reflect the man’s stature of being a wonderful multi-instrumentalist, illustrator and animator. However, we’re in luck because a few days ago VanGaalen released his newest scion, Shrink Dust. So that’s reason enough for me to give him the sort of attention he deserves. Continue reading →

If I may say so, the 1980s was a decade to be frowned upon, at least when viewed in terms of pop culture. Think about it: big hair do’s, stonewashed jeans, mullets, not to speak of the Tom Cruise mania of the time. Sometimes it’s hard to believe the decade also produced the best indie-rock bands we know today. Built to Spill, Sebadoh, Yo La Tengo and Pavement were founded during these years and have risen to great heights ever since. Continue reading →

Morning haste is a normal part of life for many city dwellers. As long as you don’t dawdle, waking up, showering, brushing teeth, making and eating breakfast, drinking coffee, getting to the station and cramming yourself into a train can be done in about thirty minutes. But what sort of music will keep you from dawdling (setting aside those nonsensical radio shows)? A friend of mine came up with an answer: The Baptist Generals. Their EP Dog (2000) contains 19 minutes of rusty Americana that will undoubtedly turn those drowsy mornings into a fresh start. At a high rate, eight straightforward lo-fi tracks will blow you towards a new boring day at the office. Dog did not get much attention but can nevertheless be seen as a rediscovery of a rougher kind of Americana. The Baptist Generals, who started off playing for beer money in Denton (Texas, USA), continued their endeavors in 2003. No Silver / No Gold is once more a ‘bucked-sounding’ album that excels in terms of loudness and sleaziness. Hereafter it became relatively quiet for about ten years. During these years founders Chris Flemmons and Steve Hill where primarily active on stage in different settings and attempted to release a new studio record in 2005. Unfortunately this record never made it to the stores “[…] life got in the way for a while after 2005”, according to Flemmons. This persistent silence foreshadowed the end of the band, however ‘The Generals’ nearly escaped oblivion this month for Jackleg Devotional To The Heart was finally released on Sub Pop. Continue reading →